I am a native English speaker living in Chamonix Mont-Blanc who translates a wide variety of extreme sports literature and documents relating to tourism. I have been translating for seven years since I left University of Leeds where I achieved a 2-1 honours degree in French. Living in France has shown me that life is not all about working in an office, that you can be professional and lead the lifestyle you want. I am passionate about sports, especially snowboarding, languages and travel. I make sure all these things interlink and I meet most of my clients through my sports and through other people I meet along the way. I always try to learn some local lingo when I go abroad and have basic knowledge of many European and Asian languages although am not proficient enough to work in them. The same goes for my sports, I travel to be able to do the sports that interest me and I have become passionate about many but only excel at one! Snowboarding has taught me to respect nature and to make the most of its beautiful playground before it is dished up for human consumption. This is one reason I have kept my translation as a self-run, self-contained activity that has the simple aim of facilitating understanding between cultures and to earn enough money to be able to live my life.
My recent projects include the feature films La Nuit de la Glisse, accompanying book and magazine, Source boardsports industry trends magazine and marketing work for Dupraz snowboards. As well as helping local business (French and English speaking) to communicate their message to the other side, I live my translation on a day to day basis and like to think that I am part of the glue which binds the multi-lingual communities of Chamonix together. The survival of this special town and its environment depends on good communication between the locals/local authorities, the tourists and the businesses attracting, welcoming and entertaining tourists from all over the world. It still has a lot of work to do but a new generation of hybrid French and ever increasingly sensitive ski bums and tourists and coming together for the good of the valley, its glaciers and in the fight against the thousands of trucks going through the tunnel de Mont Blanc every day. When I'm not translating, I work for a top end chalet company as a driver and always try to inform my clients about the valley, its problems, what's at stake and how we can all help. This place is the most important thing to me and therefore its survival and preservation is paramount- my translation forms a big part of this mission